Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced his resignation on Wednesday, five days after a fire at a nightclub in Bucharest killed 32 people. Ponta acknowledged public anger over the incident, hours after thousands of people marched in the streets of the capital, demanding the resignation of Ponta and other political leaders.

Ponta, who is also mired in a corruption scandal, said, "I must admit that there is a legitimate anger in our society and also a legitimate urge to take bigger responsibility than the owners of that nightclub. People want more than that and, for me, it would be a big error to ignore it. I think it is not fair to throw this responsibility on emergency teams or on mayors, state secretaries or ministers. I, myself, am ready to do this gesture demanded by a large part of our society.”